Tauranga and the Beach at Mount Maunganui

Tauranga, New Zealand (pronounced, roughly, like "tow'r anga") is the largest city in the Bay of Plenty region, and while we were there we had the pleasure of staying with Jen and Mike, two friendly and gregarious kiwis who hosted us in their beautiful home on the hills outside of town.



The view, the conversation and the dinner we shared with them were wonderful. And if you'd like more information on the website that enabled Laura and me to meet up with great local hosts like these--not only in New Zealand but all over the world--take a look at our post on Couchsurfing elsewhere in this travel blog. Jen and Mike are an excellent advertisement for why Couchsurfing works, and we couldn't believe how much fun it was chatting with them and learning all about their country and community.

Jen's raised beds for next year's garden:


Jen's and Mike's adorable new kitties:


And thanks to their advice, we spent the next day driving around the vicinity of Mount Maunganui, a beautiful park and beach area with beautiful vistas, uncrowded beaches, and some--but not too much--property development. It reminded us of a less-crowded and more casual version of Miami's South Beach.



It's the peak season right now, so were expecting many more people to be around, soaking up the sun. Laura and I sat down in a shady place and enjoyed a delicious lunch while watching the waves.




Tauranga is one of the fastest growing cities in New Zealand, and once you visit their beautiful beach area, you'll see one of the reasons why.

Sadly, it was an all-too-brief stay here in Tauranga: we didn't even get to see much of the city itself. But we have a ferry to catch back to the South Island in just a few days, so we need to get going.

And besides, we know we're going to come back here.

Why We'll Return to Whangarei Part 2: Ngunguru, Matapouri Beach and Sandy Bay

Today was our second day staying with Dan and Genevieve in Ngunguru, and we spent the day exploring the various beautiful beaches in the surrounding area. Once again, we'll let the photographs (again, mostly Laura's) do all the talking.

Our first stop was Sandy Bay, populated mostly by surfers today.


This little place looked really quaint, but they served a really bad (and expensive) attempt at cuban food. Oh, well. Just one minor flaw in paradise.


Dan, wondering why in the world should he ever go back to New Jersey:


Dan and Gen's children, watching the waves:



Can you imagine what it must be like to grow up in a place like this? There's never any shortage of mountains to climb.



The estuary, just two blocks from Dan and Gen's home, filled with water during high tide.


More mountains to climb!



Laura, at peace.

Why We'll Return to Whangarei Part 1: An Evening at Tutukaka Beach

The Whangarei region is perhaps one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in all of New Zealand.

And if it weren't for Dan's friend Dan, a former Couchsurfing guest from this area who we hosted a year ago in Manhattan, we'd never have gone here. Dan lives in the nearby town of Ngunguru, and he and his wonderful wife Genevieve graciously "returned the favor" and hosted us in their wonderful home.

We were here two full days, and we barely scratched the surface of this area. This will be one of the first places we will return to on our next trip to New Zealand.

First, a quick pronunciation guide: Whangarei is pronounced "fahn gah ray," since it is based on Maori pronunciation. As for how to pronounce Ngunguru... well, we're still not exactly sure to be perfectly honest, but "newngaroo" is a close enough approximation.

And here's probably the region's most widely recognized landmark: the "dragon's teeth" islands, which come into view as you drive up the highway approaching Whangarei.


On our first night there, Dan and Genevieve took us walking at their favorite place in the area--Tutukaka Beach, which is just a ten-minute drive from their home.

This walk, something they do often, was a true blessing. And this evening was particularly special because we got to see the sunset and experience the landscape in the dying light of the day.

And after we were done with this astoundingly beautiful walk, Laura and I were literally stammering, "Y-y-you mean you can take this walk any day you like?"

This post will consist mostly of photographs--and a brief video at the end. There's just not a lot we can say to add to the beauty we saw here.







It was evening, so the light was beginning to get just perfect for photos:


Laura, falling into the soft, bushy grass here on the hillside. Don't worry, she was falling on purpose. It was a blast tossing ourselves into the deep and fluffy grass.


Dan and Genevieve in the setting sun, right before they started diving into the deep grass too:



During low tide, you can walk between these islands without getting your feet wet. But as you can see, during high tide there are waves crashing through in both directions.



Soon the light began to get quite low, and it was time to end a truly beautiful evening walk:




And last but not least, a brief video of the waves rolling in between the rocks here at high tide. Hopefully this will give you a little bit of an idea why we simply loved this place.

Warkworth and Tawharanui, and How Sidetrips Are Richly Rewarded in New Zealand

We had a little bit of extra time before we were due to arrive at our hosts' home up in the Whangarei area, so on our way up north we arbitrarily took a right turn off State Route #1 and headed towards Warkworth, NZ.

I don't know what it is about New Zealand, but we always were richly rewarded whenever we took an arbitrary side trip like this. And after stopping into the local information center in the adorable town of Warkworth, I walked out with a map and a suggestion, from one of the extremely helpful staffers there, to drive out to Tawharanui Park, just a half hour away.

But on the way, we were sidetracked yet again--after all, who could possibly resist a sign like this?


This was a sign leading us to the Omaha Beach Winery, a nearly brand-new winery here which was offering tastings of several of their prize wines.


We met and talked with the owner and his wife, bought a couple of bottles of their wine, and then sat out in the back and enjoyed the view over a couple of bottles of blueberry juice, a local specialty.


We were busy taking pictures when a local couple approached us, offered to take our picture, and then struck up a friendly conversation. When he found out we were on our way to the Tawharanui Park, he nodded his approval and told us, "It's a nice drive. Gets a bit curvy at the end though."

That turned out to be a particularly monumental example of Kiwi understatement.

Yet again, the photos won't do justice to the actual experience, but this was the skinniest, dustiest, steepest and curviest gravel road we had yet driven on. And it featured locals screaming down the road in both directions, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that another car might be coming around any bend in the road.


But we were richly rewarded after this drive with amazing views...


...and a sparsely populated beach. We shared the area with just a few scuba divers and a family enjoying an overnight camping excursion.





If you ever have the good fortune of visiting New Zealand, never turn down the chance to take a side trip.

Peka Peka Beach, Otaki Beach, and Our First Logistical Snafu

Even when things go wrong for us here, they kind of still go right.

We were supposed to stay the night with a host in the town of Otaki, NZ, but our host had to leave town suddenly to look after her father who had become ill.

So at around 7:00 or 8:00pm that night, we had to find a new place to stay. This would be the very first time on this trip that we would have to line up same-day accommodations.

You may not want to try this on the South Island during the busy summer tourist season, simply because many of the communities near key South Island sights are quite small and often don't have that many places to stay (this is particularly true if you want to limit yourself to budget accommodations at hostels or backpacker lodges). For example, if we hadn't lined up accommodations a day or two ahead of time in Franz Joseph Glacier or in Anakiwa, we would probably be sleeping in the car those nights.

But up here on the North Island it was no big deal at all. We drove for about 50km to the nearest sizeable town, Palmerston North, NZ, and quickly found a nice, clean and spacious motel room for only NZ$100 (about US$55).

And in the meantime, we had the chance to spend the afternoon and evening wandering around two of the several little beach towns on the lower west coast of the North Island.

Peka Peka Beach and Otaki Beach are tiny little communities less than two hours' drive north of Wellington, filled with modest little homes and blessed with easily accessible (and nearly deserted) beaches.


In the USA, it is impossible to find beach towns like this. The modest homes would have been replaced by monster mansions (or worse, high-rise hotels), and the quietest beach towns would attract so many people seeking quiet that they'd no longer be quiet any more.

But New Zealand's paradises aren't ruined by too many people. After all, this country has a population of only four million on a land mass roughly the size of Oregon. That's the advantage of living on two huge and hard-to-reach islands.